Reliance Steel’s (RS) Q4 Earnings & Sales Beat Estimates

Reliance SteelRS is a leading metals service center company engaged in value-added materials management and metals processing services. It distributes metal products including stainless steel, aluminum, brass, copper, titanium and alloy steel to customers across a vast spectrum of industries.

Reliance Steel is gaining from its strategic acquisitions and strong demand for its products across the aerospace and automotive markets.

Let’s have a quick look at this metal processor’s fourth-quarter 2016 release.

Estimate Trend & Surprise History

Investors should note that the earnings estimate for Reliance Steel for the fourth quarter has been stable over the past one month. Reliance Steel has beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in 3 of the trailing 4 quarters with an average positive surprise of 5.60%.

Reliance Steel logged earnings of 84 cents per share for the quarter that beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 75 cents.

Revenues

Reliance Steel recorded net sales of $2.06 billion, up 1.7% year over year, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.03 billion.

Key Stats/Developments to Note

Reliance Steel is optimistic about business activity levels and metal pricing. The company anticipates tons sold will be up 8% to 10% in the first quarter of 2017 due to normal seasonal factors.

Reliance Steel expects its average selling price to be up 2% to 4% in the first quarter from the fourth quarter of 2016. The company expects earnings to be in the range of $1.25 to $1.35 per share for the first quarter of 2017.

The company’s board declared a 5.9% increase in the quarterly cash dividend to 45 cents per share, payable to stockholders on Mar 24, 2017.

Zacks Rank

Reliance Steel currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Market Reaction

Reliance Steel’s shares were inactive following the release. It would be interesting to see how the market reacts to the results during the trading session today.

Check back later for our full write up on Reliance Steel’s earnings report!

Just Released – Driverless Cars: Your Roadmap to Mega-Profits Today

In this latest Special Report, Zacks’ Aggressive Growth Strategist Brian Bolan explores a full-blown technological breakthrough in the making – autonomous cars. He also spotlights 8 stocks with tremendous gain potential to feed off this phenomenon. Click to see the stocks right now >>

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report